Kids these days
by NutellaPizza
Summary: Draco and Hermione are tired of their daughter's bad behaviour and might have to do something drastic to get her back on track.
1. Chapter 1

"_She was WHAT!?" _  
Many thoughts crossed Draco's mind. All the possibilities raced recklessly in his head, fighting to grasp one inch of coherence, as what he had just heard was too obscene, too impossible for his mind to comprehend.  
Only minutes ago he had been eyeing the Deputy Headmaster with disdain, barely registering what he was telling him, but now all his attention was focused on him. He wasn't aware of the chair he knocked back when he stood up so abruptly, his cool collected demeanour had been discarded and replaced by a far less elegant and hysteric version of himself. Nothing existed but this pathetic scum, this foul man that dared defile that which was more sacred to him.

"I said, Mr. Malfoy, that your daughter was found performing" he gulped, "oral sex on one of the other students in the boys' restroom." The poor man said in what he had hoped to be a professional tone instead of a terrified squeal. Despite all his years of experience, Neville Longbottom couldn't help feeling again like a little scared boy when in the presence of Draco Malfoy and seeing him rage through his office, screaming, swearing and smashing objects against the walls wasn't helping.

Next to where Draco had been sitting Hermione looked at Neville apologetically. She had the decency to look ashamed at both her daughter and husband's behaviour. _Ex_-husband, Hermione had to remind herself. Her brow furrowed at this thought, if they weren't married anymore why was she still putting up with his antics? A sharp flick of her wand and a loud bang was heard through the room. Though she felt more like hexing his face off there were more pressing matters and his silence would have to do. For now.

"Please, continue." Said Hermione, taking the opportunity before Draco continued his tantrum.

"A… As you b-both now," stammered Neville, his eyes never leaving Draco. "Intimate intercourse is strictly against our c-code of conduct and disciplinary actions will be taken on Miss Malfoy and her companion."

"I really hope that bastard gets more than a simple detention! An older hormone-crazed teenager seducing my little girl!" Interrupted Draco.

"Well, he's actually y-younger than her…"

"No doubt trying to boost his reputation by tainting that of my child!"

"I highly d-doubt that as he's the f-founder of the 'Hogwarts' Abstinence Club', this will destroy his reput..." Said Neville as he ducked behind his desk.

"The _nerve_ of him! He preaches morality in public but seduces innocent girls at the first chance!" Draco bellowed.

Neville wanted nothing more than to run as far from this confrontation as he could, but kept on. "Mr. Malfoy," he said with his most soothing voice. "It has come to my knowledge that there was a bet going on among the 5th year slytherin girls on who would be the one to 'corrupt' this boy."

"I put my daughter in your and this institution's trust! I thought she would be receiving an education, not being bullied by her own classmates into indecent activities! It's called peer pressure and you should be fighting it!" Draco was one step away from climbing onto the desk and pouncing on poor Neville.

"Merlin's Beard! When will you stop making excuses for her! When will you open your eyes and see what she's turning into!" Hermione shouted. She had had it. She wasn't as naïve as Draco when it came to their daughter. There was something definitely wrong with her as much as it pained Hermione to admit it. She stood between her ex-husband and Neville's desk, shooting daggers at Draco and receiving his burning glares in return.

Oblivious to what was happening in the Deputy Headmaster's office, the reason behind the fight was merrily strolling her way to see Professor Longbottom. Cassiopeia Malfoy smirked to herself at her luck. It should have been Professor Sinistra who dealt with her, being as she was head of her house, but as the issue at hand had involved students from different houses it was Longbottom's duty to take care of it. Sinistra knew how to handle her, but Longbottom would be defenceless against her many tricks. Cassiopeia always planned her day in advance and would never leave her bedroom without having several alibis ready in case she got herself into any trouble, which was more often than not. She knew her roommates had spilled the beans, but she couldn't hold their betrayal against them, she would have done exactly the same thing in their place. Of course she still was planning on getting back at them, but it was a matter of politics, not feelings.

A few steps before she reached the Deputy Headmaster's door, she took out a vial of odourless onion extract and rubbed her eyes with a few drops. She elongated her skirt, messed her hair and wrapped her robe around her as if the world was a scary cold place she needed to be protected from. She knocked gently on the door and in a feeble voice asked:

"May I come in, Professor?"

What she saw as she entered the office made her stop in her tracks. So the wimp had summoned her parents? She forced herself to suppress the smirk that was forming on her lips. _This is going to be easier than I thought._ She came up to meet them with her eyes on the floor, doing her best to seem mortified and ashamed. Neville conjured a third chair and motioned for her to sit, but instead of sitting down, Cassiopeia flung herself at her mother, sobbing on her lap.

"Mummy, I'm sorry! I d-don't know why I d-did it, we were joking and s-suddenly it wasn't a joke anymore and-and I felt p-pressured to go on but I wanted to get out and-and then they wer-"

"Stop this nonsense at once!" Interrupted Hermione pulling her daughter up. "Do you really expect us to believe you this time? Do you really think your fake tears and pathetic excuses will work every time you mess things up!?"

Of course her mother hadn't fallen for her little scene. Not that Cassiopeia was expecting her to, it was someone else she wanted to fool. As if on cue, Daddy dearest tore her away from Hermione and held her in his arms.

"Don't speak to her like that! Alright, maybe she deserves some sort of corrective measure," Hermione snorted at his _maybe_. "But scolding her so harshly when she's trying to make amends and apologizing will only make things worse!"

Hermione rolled her eyes in despair. _Harshly?_ The way Draco pampered their daughter made her insides churn and her head spin while, of course, Cassiopeia loved every minute of it. Hermione never thought she would be feeling like the third wheel in her own family, but as time passed she could see the breach between them growing wider.

"Listen, Draco," she said, massaging her temples. "This behaviour has to stop! Don't you see it? She's blowing random guys just to win bets, for Merlin's sake! Don't you care about her morals, her reputation, her self esteem?"

Her words had some effect on him as he lifted up the girl's chin to make eye contact with her.

"Your mother is right, Sweetheart, I know this is a difficult age for you and you are confused with all these new feelings and sensations, but you can't go around throwing yourself away like this. Sex and love are serious issu-"

"LOVE! What do I know about love!? If love is something so serious why did you toss it away at the first problem! I was so happy when we were a true family but you had to take it away from me! Don't tell me that love is serious when you got divorced without bothering to make an effort. I hate you both. I HATE YOU!"

That was it. The words that not even Hermione could resist. Her heart broke every single time she heard them and every single time she gave in, truly believing that her miscreant daughter's faults were hers and hers only. With watery eyes she walked towards her child, embracing her softly and letting her cry against her chest. Cassiopeia buried her face in her mother's jumper not able to hold back the wide grin that formed any longer. She had won. She always did.

******

**A.N.:** Does this brat deserve an ass whooping or what? So, first fic after a long long break; it's not a brilliant comeback, but I promise I'll try harder for next chapter. A bit of a warning, 1) ESL here, so please forgive me for any spelling/grammar mistakes, but do feel free to point them out. 2) I'd say I'm busy, but the truth is I'm lazy, lazy! LAZY! so I'm apologizing in advance for the decades long delay in updating the fic that is sure to happen. 3) I'm keeping this M rated not R, which means no smut. I'm okay reading it, but I don't feel comfortable writing it, so sorry if you were looking for that.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter books' characters or plot; if I did I would have fulfilled my lifelong dream of buying an underground villain overlord base where I could cackle maniacally in a proper setting. What can I say, cackling maniacally in a bedroom with chintz curtains just doesn't have the same glamour to it.


	2. Chapter 2

Susan Weasly wasn't a bad girl. Quite the opposite, in fact, she was good natured and polite, always caring about her loved ones, ready with a helping hand and a friendly smile. So it wasn't a secret evilness lurking deep within her soul that got her placed in Slytherin, it was just that she was terrified of mediocrity. When Granddad Arthur had told her stories about how they had lived when her father was a child, instead of encouraging her to appreciate what she had, Susan had been mortified. The thought of shared rooms and second hand clothes was enough to give her nightmares for three weeks; one night she woke up shivering and swore poverty was something that would never happen to her.

Susan had ambitions and she had a plan to make them come true. A crucial step in this plan was obtaining the Head Girl position, so she worked hard, behave appropriately and struggled to achieve a perfectly clean record. Record that wouldn't remain clean for long if Cassiopeia found a way to turn the tables on them, which was one of the reasons she was standing in one of the corners of the corridor that led to Professor Longbottom's office, waiting with the other 5th year slytherin girls for her to come out.

The other reason was that she was truly concerned about her friend. When the other girls had hurriedly snitched on Cassiopeia, Susan quickly joined them, anxious about losing her future position at Hogwarts. However, now that the problem had been averted and her sorry arse been saved, she felt worse about the whole situation because, after all, Susan Weasly wasn't a bad girl. She didn't like the path Cassiopeia was carelessly treading and she couldn't shake the feeling that her seemingly infinite knack for getting out of trouble was about to end.

On the other end of the corridor the door clicked open and the girls crouched behind a suit of armour. Draco held the door open for his ex-wife to pass. There had been a lot of shouting in the office and now they were both drained of energy, tired of the endless fight that their lives had become since they got married. Clashing passionate personalities made for great sex, but also for horrible fights over trivialities such as the colour of the curtains. Their love had fought over evil dark lords, centuries of prejudice and a wizarding war, but had been beaten to a pulp by everyday routine.

The familiar walls of the school left a sad mark on Hermione's already blue mood. In these same halls they had once walked hand in hand, while now they weren't even able to look at each other. Her heart sank a little bit every time she recognized a spot where their lips had met, a door behind which their sweaty bodies had…

"I remember this classroom." Draco said with a faint hint of humour. "And by the way you're blushing I'd say you remember it too." The smirk in his voice was now obvious. How could a voice smirk, Hermione didn't know, but damn, that man managed somehow.

Hermione put her hands to her cheeks and blushed even deeper feeling their hotness, making Draco grin devilishly at her discomfort.

"We should be ashamed of ourselves. Reproaching our daughter's sexual life at school while we did the same things in our time."

"It's not the same," Draco replied. "We were officially dating, we were eighteen and nineteen, not fifteen like her and we were…"

_In love._ He hadn't said it, but it hurt all the same. Yes hurt. It still hurt though they hadn't been together for eight years. Hermione let out a sigh she hadn't realized she had been holding. She felt hurt and sad and frustrated and exhausted and, strangely enough, hungry.

"Would you like to come over for lunch?" Hermione blurted out, surprised at herself. "I mean, we have to discuss what are we going to do about Cassie and I thought there would be better chances of remaining civil over a full stomach."

"Are you cooking?" Draco asked with fake disgust.

Hermione raised an eyebrow, she was no French chef, but her food wasn't that bad. It was edible. Most of the time. After drowning it in ketchup. "Pizza?"

"Sounds perfect!"

As they turned in direction of Hogwarts's floo point, Hermione caught a glimpse of flaming red hair peeping from the corner. _Susan_. She liked Percy's daughter and was glad she and Cassiopeia were friends.

She remembered the day she and the Weaslys got letters from their little ones informing them they had both been placed in Slytherin. Percy understood her daughter's desire to succeed so he hadn't been utterly shocked. Arthur and Molly both had plenty of slytherin relatives, so their surprise only lasted a few minutes before they hurried to write back words of encouragement and advice. Ron had been furious, but he always was whenever Draco or their daughter were involved, so his opinion wasn't taken seriously anymore. Hermione smiled at the girl before leaving the hall.

From the corner Susan smiled back, she knew Hermione would've liked for her to have a better influence on Cassiopeia's life, but following others wasn't something the Malfoy girl did. She made her own way, even if it led straight to the end of a cliff. _Why do you have to be such a stubborn git, Cassie?_

"Cassiopeia's Dad is quite a hottie." Murmured Tracy Haymeadow, one of the other slytherin girls as the two adults disappeared from view.

"He's old enough to be your father!" Susan replied.

"But not for much, I heard he got her mum knocked up and they had to marry in their teens, so he can't be that old."

"You're disgusting, Tracy."

"What is all this babble about?" A voice from behind them said.

Cassiopeia stood there, fists at her hips and seeming even taller than she was now that the other girls were crouching. She had sneaked out of Longbottom's office, knowing her friends would be waiting somewhere close and she wanted to catch them with their guards down. Theatrical entrances, how she loved them.

"Were you waiting for me? I'm sure you must have been terribly worried about _me_. It feels so warm inside to have such loyal friends." She said, flipping her long hair back with an elegant flick of her hand. "You might as well like to know that I'm free of any punishment, the incident will not be recorded in my school file and the Abstinence Club will be disbanded for preaching and interfering with other people's morals and beliefs." She added with a smug tone. "Oh, and you have to meet Professor Sinistra when she decides on the time and place of your detention." With that she turned and left the three girls scowling behind her.

Away from Hogwarts, in a humble house in the outskirts of London, Hermione helped herself to another slice of pepperoni pizza. Not wanting to meet Draco's gaze she let her eyes wander over the many framed photos she had on the table. Some with friends, some with family, but most of them were of her daughter. She looked like an angel with her long blond hair, pale skin and delicate features. Every inch a Malfoy.

Hermione wondered if there was anything of her in Cassiopeia; they looked nothing alike and, Merlin knows, she hadn't inherited her brains or personality. She huffed at the most recent picture; they stood together right before boarding the Hogwarts' Express. Fifteen years old and she was already three good inches taller than her mother.

"You know she's lying to us." Draco said, making Hermione snap out of her reverie.

"To us? Yes, all the time, care to clarify which lie are you referring to?"

"She lies when she says how much our divorce upsets her." Hermione raised an eyebrow, she never thought Draco could see through her deceit.

"What, do you think I can't see past her farce?" Draco said, getting angry. "It's not like you do much better, you turn into a pile of sobbing goo whenever she mentions it!"

"You are the one who spoils her rotten!"

"If I remember correctly it was you who allowed her to go to Paris after I forbade her from doing so because of her bad grades!"

"It was a cultural trip!" Hermione huffed. "Or it was until you showed up with a bag full of galleons, from that point it became one big shopping spree!"

"Cultural!? Bollocks! You were just glad that for once you were able to get her something she wanted instead of me." Draco shouted. "Or are you going to tell me that her subscription to _Cosmo_ is also cultural? It has such interesting and _cultural_ articles as '10 most enticing settings to perform felatio'. I wonder if the school's toilets is on the top five!" He spat pushing his chair away from Hermione.

She bit her lip, lowering her gaze. This was going nowhere unless she stopped her urges to fight him at any chance. "You're right."

"What?" Said Draco after a long second of shocked silence.

"I said that you're right. I'm… I'm a horrible mother." She sobbed. "And you, you are a terrible father. We must be the most awful parents in the whole world."

Draco pulled his chair close to Hermione and sat down. He wouldn't hug her, or even pat her shoulder, but he knew his closeness would be comforting.

"We're not that bad, we just feel guilty for making her suffer."

"As you said, she lies to us, she's not suffering at all, in fact I think she's glad we're divorced, that way she can do what she wants and-" Hermione stopped mid sentence. "She loves it, doesn't she?" She said after a pause. "She does whatever she wants and then blames us for every thing. She just has to say 'divorce' and we drop at her feet. It's like her power word." Draco didn't like the way he sensed her brain working. "I say we take this power away from her."

"You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you?"

"You can be certain I am. Draco, let's get back together."

*****

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the Harry Potter books' characters or plot; if I did I would have fulfilled my lifelong dream of buying a dinosaur. Why? Because they're fucking awesome, that's why.

Thank you, **reimihara21**, **spikeecat** and **fidens** for reviewing. I'm glad to see I'm not the one who would give her the beating of her life. :P


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